This invention relates to software and more specifically to design management management software.
Consumer continually, demand new and improved products. To meet this demand, design development occurs at a rapid pace. Design management and product lifecycle management (PLM) software assists in the conception, design, realization, and servicing of products. A feature of software is images can be uploaded to a design management system from the desktop computer, after they have been transferred to the desktop computer from a camera.
Despite the success of design management software, improvements are still needed. With typical software, a shortcoming of the process is that the photos and images are typically taken while a user is away from their desk. For example, when a product prototype is received for review from a supplier, product developers will get up from their desk and walk over to the location of the prototype to review the prototype. As issues are discovered or as changes are requested, images will be captured with a camera to document the discussions.
To share the images with other product developers, a user will return to their desk, plug in their camera, and transfer (e.g., upload) the images to a design management system. After the images are uploaded, the user will then type in a description of the change as notes that are associated with the images. Also, a user can assign responsibility to another user to follow up on the change request by attaching the image to an email together with a description of the task. Also, if the user would like to draw a mark-up annotation on the image, the image must be opened in a mark-up application and saved back to the desktop before the image is uploaded.
Therefore, there is a need for software facilitating improved productivity.